Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James entered Tuesday night’s action against the New York Knicks sixth on the all-time NBA assist list. He trailed Mark Jackson by seven and Steve Nash by eight.
It didn’t take King James too long before he passed Jackson for fifth on the all-time list. A little while later, the all-time great would pass Nash for fourth on the list.
Talk about taking care of business in short order. Even before the game had been completed, James had put up double-digit assists as his Lakers looked to overcome season-long struggles.
All of the focus outside of those struggles have been on LeBron James’ pursuit of Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s scoring record. He entered Tuesday’s action just 117 points shy of the all-time scoring record and will break it at some point soon.
As for his ability to pass the ball, LeBron James’ assist numbers tell us a story of someone who has proven to be one of the best all-around players in Association history.
Related: Tracking LeBron James’ path to NBA history
LeBron James and the all-time NBA assist leaders
At 38 years old, it’s safe to say that King James will not top John Stockton’s record of 15,806 assists. Heck, he’ll probably top out at four on the all-time list.
- John Stockton: 15,806
- Jason Kidd: 12,091
- Chris Paul: 11,246
- LeBron James: 10,337
- Steve Nash: 10,335
- Mark Jackson: 10,334
When all is said and done, James will find himself No. 1 in league history in scoring and in the top five in assists. It doesn’t take a genius to realize just how rare of an accomplishment this is.
Even at the advanced age of 39, he continues to play at an elite level. In fact, James entered Tuesday’s action on an absolute roll.
- LeBron James stats (past 13 games): 35.2 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 8.1 APG, 52% shooting
Sometimes, we take for granted what someone like James does in real time. It’s not dissimilar to Tom Brady in the NFL or MLB’s Aaron Judge from a season ago. But we should appreciate the greatness as it happens. It won’t last forever.